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Keynsham Town information

St John’s Church of England Primary School is situated in the thriving town of Keynsham, a rapidly growing small English town that centres around a high street dominated by St John’s Church which gives our school its name. Situated halfway between the vibrant city of Bristol and the historic city of Bath, Keynsham is an excellent place to live and work.

Residents of Keynsham are proud of its historic past that includes evidence of a large Roman fort, an Anglo Saxon minster and a medieval abbey. Keynsham was significantly involved in the English Civil Wars of the 17th century and the local area is packed full of ammonites; fossilised evidence that Keynsham lay deep under water more than 65 thousand years ago during the Mesozoic period.

St John’s Church of England Primary School history

Once known as Keynsham Parochial School the school was founded in 1857 and so our school has a distinctive provenance of which we are proud. The history of our school in Keynsham can therefore be traced back through over 160 years making it the oldest educational institution in the town.

In 1960 the school moved to its present site when it was renamed St John’s Church of England Primary School. Indeed, up to and including the Victorian and Edwardian periods ours was the only school in Keynsham. The history of the school can be traced back through the school log books which are still in our possession and the original site of the parochial school is still a prominent feature in Keynsham town.

Link with the Age Concern Day Centre, Keynsham

Year 6 visited the Hawthorns as part of their topic on World War 2 in term 4. The Age Concern members kindly agreed to be interviewed by the children, who listened with great interest to their stories of life during the Blitz. 'It is amazing to get to speak to people who were alive as children in the war,' one of the Year 6's said.

Then, later in term 4, the children returned the favour! They invited members of Age Concern as well as some of their own relatives who were alive in the war to visit the school for a VE Day Celebration! Over 45 guests attended the celebration and the children worked extremely hard to make it a memorable occasion for everyone!

There was singing, dancing, WW2 cakes (which the children made to the original recipes), bomb shelters from the children's homework project and lots of discussion the tables about the War and the children's work during the topic.

Easter Experience

The School hall was transformed by members of St John's Church in the week building up to Easter, for the Easter Experience. Children came into the hall in small groups and moved around the different activities.

The Easter Experience was also featured in the Bath and Wells Diocesan Newsletter, which is sent to all Church of England Schools, and below is an extract taken from the newsletter:

During the week, the hall was transformed with the help of some members of the congregation from St John's Church who then helped to lead the stations. Every child in the school went through the "Experience" and the atmosphere was breathtaking. Every child was engaged and affected by the stations - in fact the volunteers thanked me for the opportunity to be part of it, and one spoke of the hall as feeling "anointed" - a very special time for all concerned. Every member of staff was involved in some way, including kitchen staff and cleaners. Some parents and governors also contributed, and the congregation prayed for us in church the preceding Sunday. Station leaders met for prayer the week before at my home, then we prayed before each session. The children spoke of feeling calm, relaxed, and "as if Jesus was there." It was a wonderful way to enter into Holy Week at a level appropriate for Primary age children.'